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Court of the Desert Lotus

in the nude, the empress received us
demurely accepting the loving caresses
of the wind and our eyes.

shadow-clad, you held court
receiving your visitors
with cool and gracious dignity.

in silence, we bowed
then turned to scan
for infidel eyes upon us.

finally, assured of privacy
we night pilgrims
readied our offering.

smoke-wreathed, majestic in moonlight
you accepted our gift
in regal stillness.

sacrifice made, we admired
the fruits of your divinity
their five-fold fractal nature.

sacred mother, o desert lotus
towering above your court
lesser cacti clustered at your base.

growing cautious, we gave respect
and fled into the night toward home
conscious of a new purity within.

though furtive, our pilgrimage
bore a sanctity fully fertile
as the ripe fruit she sent home with us.

Author notes

This is a combination of "write about your pagan religion" and "write about a non-rose flower". A couple of blocks down the street from my house is a yard full of cacti and other things. The queen of the garden is a huge old Peruvian Torch. When she began to bloom, we snuck down there one night with a pipe and some cannabis to admire her fruit and flowers, and give her a sacrifice of cannabis smoke.

We're essentially animists/totemists. We don't draw on any particular human religion specifically, though we are influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shintoism. Mostly we just do what feels right, learning directly from the life around us. We don't "worship" so much as acknowledge and give due respect to what is.

A contest entry

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Comments


  • Sunkissed xo
    February 14
    Edit | Reply
    how beautiful
    thanks for entering my contest, and best of luck. ♥


  • icyrose
    January 31

    Edit | Reply
    Beautiful, beautiful poem.
    Cannabis always seems to bring out that overwhelming love for all things beautiful of nature...
    I would often do the same. A beautiful tribute to a majestic plant.